The present invention relates to an inspecting apparatus for nondestructively obtaining nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data such as density distribution or relaxation time distribution of nuclear spins in an object to be inspected, by utilizing nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and more particularly to an imaging apparatus using nuclear magnetic resonance which is provided with means for determining a measuring position in an object to be measured.
An X-ray computed tomograph (X-ray CT) and an ultrasonic imaging apparatus have hitherto been widely used to nondestructively inspect the internal structure of a human body or the like. In recent years, an attempt to make a similar inspection by utilizing nuclear magnetic resonance has been made with success, and it has become apparent that the inspection using nuclear magnetic resonance can obtain information which is not given by the X-ray CT and ultrasonic imaging apparatus.
In an imaging apparatus using nuclear magnetic resonance, information with respect to nuclear magnetic resonance such as density distribution or relaxation time distribution of nuclear spins in an object is nondestructively obtained from the outside of the object by utilizing the nuclear magnetic resonance phenomenon, and thus a cross section of a desired measuring target in the object is reconstructed and displayed in a manner similar to the X-ray CT.
In such an imaging apparatus, it is necessary to previously determine a measuring target in an object. For example, in the X-ray CT, prior to a detailed inspection (namely, a main inspection), an X-ray image similar to an ordinary X-ray image is obtained, for example, in such a manner that an object is one-dimensionally moved in the X-ray CT, and an X-ray image thus obtained is displayed to allow a physician or the like to determine a measuring target on the basis of the displayed X-ray image. However, conventional imaging apparatuses using nuclear magnetic resonance are not provided with such means, and therefore cannot previously determine a target to be measured in an object.